Crystal River current., 1887-03-12
ltlls Of Authorship.


had been married three months,
ID 90 serious aspects of life were for
frst time presenting themselves
3 46-problem of income and outgo
- made a fair showing on paper A
4 small apartment-fuel and gas includ-
d-one servant. and with such loads
wedding presents. absolutely moth
&, h to buy, they could actually save
koney. But, somehow. there were
5k{eeks which had not been considered,
end ten dollars covered much smaller
amount in time and space than John or
Mildred had supposed
IA Il wish could do something to help
john" thought Mildred, as she gazed
abstractedly out of the window. He
has to work SO hard" and she gave
4 little sigh.
what can 1 dop" she pondered.
, sfWhat can l do?" she asked herself
= 4gan and again. rs with deft touch she
I Enlightened and arranged the dainty
apartment
J Suddenly her face looked as if door
Nhad opened and flooded it wit h sun
light.
II know what l will do; | will write
q story. know L can if try. People
do not have to be so awfuly clever to
do that 1t is a knack, not a talent.
There is Mrs. -, who has made heaps
of money; and her stories are only poor
of them. John says So"
Before another hour had passed the
outline of plot was dancing in her
\ excited young brain, and as soon as she
could get the time she sat down with
pad and sharpened pencil. Then came
pause. 'How shall it begin?''
She drew little geometrc figures on
the margin of her paper as she reflect
ed, her thoughts seeming to revolvc in
circle. returning even to the place
= from whence they started. Finally she
wrote:
''In small village on the banks Of
"Oh. that is SO commonplace. No;
that will not do" And she tore off the
first sheet of her pad and reflected
again. then wrote
Frank Atwood was the only son of
a.
mo. no; that is too stupid" and the
second sheet of the pad went into the
. waste paper basket.
! She recalled what John had said of
e superfluous three pages, which
ght with benefit to most stories be
ninated-for John was journalist
literrry critic, and his standard and
us were JUST On the measure of her
N. So she Thought with great defer
Ieambles.
"He is right" she Maid with decision.
ut is the personal intsrest in the char
acters which we are locking for in read
ing story. All that comes before
that is tedious superiluitv
Il will dash right on with a letter
from the heroine. which will at once
explain the situation" So with the con-
fidence which came from feeling her
self at last on the right track, she
wrote:
".DEAR FRANK return herewith
the letters. which of course have now
no right to keep I need not tell you
what it costs me.
Il have reflected much upon what
you said yesterday. but am at last re-
solved. l will not see YOU again. Apy
attempt ts-make me break the resolve
Wifi be fruitless. God knows YOU have
only yourself TO blame that this mar
riage, has
please, ma'am, " said the cook. COM
ing suddenly in upon the young author
ess. please. ma am, the butcher is
mere WIll you come and see him and
give the order yerself about havini
them chops frenched or whatever it
isl
'Oh. what bore" sighed Mildred.
was just getting into the swing of
IT. And she left the manuscript upon
her desk to be resumed later.
The matter of the chops disposed of
there were other things requiring atten-
ton.
AT last. however, she was at her desk
again. She red over the letter with
which her story opened to see how it
sounded. ''Really, she said, Il think
that starts off very WELL" and then she
look up the broken thread. .'Only
yourself to blame that this marriage
has A violent ringing at the tele-
phone again broke the current. "Hel-
10. said our young novelist
mildred. Is that you?"
Yes, is it YOU, Alice?'
Yes. Mamma does not feel very
well and wishes you to take luncheon
with u.s. She has sent the carriage.
be ready to come as soon as it ar
rlves. Obviously no more authorship
today. So slipping her paper in her
desk she departed.
. now John was a nice sort of fellow.
out we may as well acknowledge at
once that he was not so heroic, nor SO
wise. nor so infallible an authority as
his wife supposed.
She had taken the outline of the real
John. touched it up with the glowing
colors OF her Imagination and out of it
!, 3ae made an ideal John, which, while
Z = q strong resemblance to the real,
W. ueyertissss largely work of art.
But. amer tubtt.etipg these. additions
for the real. there ~ Stfll 1s1t zszveryl
e!ceilent fellow. with good talents,
Y using with rather bril- |
m " Journalism. M